No break for Niš

The good old days at Niš Airport

The fairy tale ended before it even started. A month ago the optimistic CEO of Niš Constantine the Great Airport in Serbia announced the arrival of many new airlines which would see the revival of the airport as Serbia began applying the European Union’s open sky policy. Montenegro Airlines announced flights from Niš to Zurich while the Swedish MCA Airlines announced flights from Stockholm.

However, nether of the two airlines are set to begin services from Niš. The Swiss authorities have refused to issue Montenegro Airlines an operating license for all flights from Niš. Although Montenegro Airlines still hopes there is a possibility for the flights to begin, it is highly unlikely. The Montenegrin carrier will, as a result, also ditch the planned Podgorica to Niš service. There is even more bad news. The Swedish based MCA Airlines declared bankruptcy on November 11 and has ceased all operations. Its planned 3 weekly service to Niš was supposed to commence in mid December.

The management of the airport has not commented about these losses. Last month the airport’s CEO announced that the Italian based Windjet would commence services from Bologna some time in the near future although no firm dates were given and the airline has not released any information regarding possible flights to Niš.

Until further notice, Niš will be left without any flights and passengers. Serbia’s Jat Airways cancelled its only service from Niš (to Zurich) at the start of the winter season sighting low profitability.